An all-round display by Umar Gul, who scored 49 runs and later picked up two wickets, and a plucky knock of 93 by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed helped the Pakistanis have the better of day two of their four-day tour match against a South African Invitation XI.

The Pakistanis resumed on 178 for 6 at the start of the day but the lower order, led by Sarfraz, added 151 runs before they were dismissed. Sarfraz and Gul took their seventh-wicket partnership to 81 runs, before Gul was stumped by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas off Simon Harmer's bowling. The offspinner was the most effective South African bowler, dismissing both Gul and Sarfraz to end with figures of 5 for 88.

After Gul's departure, Sarfraz stitched together important partnerships with tailenders Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan. The right-hand batsman, who made his Test debut against Australia in 2010, began sedately but cut loose soon after reaching his 50 to take his side past 300. His innings included 12 fours and a six.

In reply, the South African XI got off to a quiet start before Junaid and Gul struck with quick wickets. Gul dismissed opener Davy Jacobs and middle-order batsman Cody Chetty in the ninth over, to leave South Africans at a shaky 31 for 3. The left-hand batting pair of Stiaan van Zyl and Vaughn van Jaarsveld then stabilised the innings with a partnership of 89, which was broken when Irfan effected a run-out to dismiss van Zyl. Vilas was the only other batsman to offer some support to van Jaarsveld before the latter was given out leg-before off Saeed Ajmal's bowling, seven runs short of a century.

The Pakistani bowlers kept the batting side in check, making regular breakthroughs. Gul and offspinner Ajmal each picked up two wickets while Junaid and Irfan also had dismissals to their credit.

And some Pak fans keep talking about WC SF where Sachin scored 85 and where Pak players were utterly nervous and demoralized after Viru had destroyed their GREAT FAST BOWLER Umar Gul by smashing him for 5 4s in an over.

My question is, why do Pak fans even talk of that match? Its not as if they won it...
They talk so much of the dropped catches of Sachin - well, are they proud of those dropped catches? Who asked them to drop those catches? It is not our fault that Pak players were catching with trembling fingers. All that they can talk about is that Sachin missed his 100 in that match - that's all. Oh My God, just look at these ppl. India won the SF, Sachin scored 85 runs, was the MoM and yet these ppl say that Sachin scored less runs and should have score more....

It is a bit like Pak fans saying you used to thrash us by 150 runs in the past and this time you won only by 90 runs so it means Pak is winning.

Poor Pak fans don't even a single good memory to latch on to vs Ind. So Sad.

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | January 27, 2013, 17:14 GMT

Typical delusion of Pak fans that they got great bowlers and a queue of bowlers. These very great bowlers couldn't defend a 300+ total vs a rampaging Kohli who literally destroyed their Gul & Ajmal that day and they still say they got great bowlers thy go great bowlers.

But why should India worry at all if the other side is deluded. It is good for India. This is why India keeps humiliating Pak in every match that matters. World Cup, Asia Cup or WT20. Poor Pak are 0-6 in WCs & 0-3 in WT20s. In fact with all the bowling that Pak have, India can do it better cos when Pak restricted India to 125, Kapil Dev and his bowlers bowled Pak for a paltry 87 on the flattest of Sharjah wickets. Dhoni and his men did the same in Delhi too when Pak couldn't even chase 167.

And yet Pak fans say they got Great bowling and a queue of fast bowlers. LOL LOL. Even the lone WC they won in 1992 came courtesy rain when Pak were bowled out for 72 by Eng and the match was rained out. Tch Tch.

POSTED BY
farhan_313
on | January 27, 2013, 16:36 GMT

we were worried about our middle order but now Misbah has also scored some runs and sarfaraz has also taken place in team with gud batting also. and when 3 to 4 batsman score fifties and one of them got hundred it means 350 to 400 runs and these runs are defendable at south africa pitches.

Younis Khan never scores big in domestic games or side matches but he always scores in big matches and specially in 4th innings his record is amazing.

some brothers have said that this wicket is the flatest wicket of South Africa, thats the only reason Invitation XI are able to make 250, other wise there score might not be more than 150 to 175.

POSTED BY
golgo_85
on | January 27, 2013, 16:35 GMT

Hmmm, I really hope this doesn't turn out to be Younis Khan's last ever outing. I want him to do well enough to play till Pakistan's next Australia tour. He was treated unfairly during that period NZ,Aus then Eng when he was in good form. Such a great fighter with integrity, needs some big scores this SA tour. Hoping for the best.

POSTED BY
david44
on | January 27, 2013, 16:15 GMT

@fijicricket your comment is hillarious look at the overall win/loss ratio in all 3 formats of cricket pakistan is far ahead then india a country with 1.5 bill population and still stuck at pakistan is laughable BTW you are right wining is all that's matter.
@harmony111 your batting god had 5 chances in his backyard and still could not score a century and kholi got owned by junaid khan again on the flattest tracks known by everybody, afridi's leg break is probably faster then any of your fast bowler

POSTED BY
zalmaypk
on | January 27, 2013, 15:35 GMT

very poor batting by middle order,i think taufeeq umar should be played and azhar ali/asad must be dropped.and irafn will also be dropped some other fit bowler should have given a chance in the first test .

POSTED BY
mhk21
on | January 27, 2013, 15:23 GMT

@spiritwithin

that's because you people state your batting lineup as the best in the world .....having your so called legends in the team ...each having scored more than 7000 runs ....but once on abroad pitches they behave as if this is their first international match

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | January 27, 2013, 15:15 GMT

@mazii->These fans wont stop coming after our Pacers..125kph..Cant stop laughing..Hey i remember once afridi bowled at 134 kph..wohooo...He should some lesson to Indian pacers how to bowl fast :)

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | January 27, 2013, 15:12 GMT

@spiritwithin->Wahab,Tanvir,Samir are trash..Look who is talking..Fan of a country who cannot produce a decent Pacer..All India came up with B.Kumar who got ecposed just after 5 matches..Dinda who every batsman in the world love to hit..50+ Avg..What's next..I would say bring back some old decent Pacer back in the team..Ohh wait i forgot.There never was any decent Pacer lol.. ok borrow it from some other team :P

POSTED BY
mazii
on | January 27, 2013, 14:51 GMT

Indian bowlers average speed is 125 km/h. So they call these bowlers as fast bowlers. Just very funny.

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | January 27, 2013, 17:51 GMT

And some Pak fans keep talking about WC SF where Sachin scored 85 and where Pak players were utterly nervous and demoralized after Viru had destroyed their GREAT FAST BOWLER Umar Gul by smashing him for 5 4s in an over.

My question is, why do Pak fans even talk of that match? Its not as if they won it...
They talk so much of the dropped catches of Sachin - well, are they proud of those dropped catches? Who asked them to drop those catches? It is not our fault that Pak players were catching with trembling fingers. All that they can talk about is that Sachin missed his 100 in that match - that's all. Oh My God, just look at these ppl. India won the SF, Sachin scored 85 runs, was the MoM and yet these ppl say that Sachin scored less runs and should have score more....

It is a bit like Pak fans saying you used to thrash us by 150 runs in the past and this time you won only by 90 runs so it means Pak is winning.

Poor Pak fans don't even a single good memory to latch on to vs Ind. So Sad.

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | January 27, 2013, 17:14 GMT

Typical delusion of Pak fans that they got great bowlers and a queue of bowlers. These very great bowlers couldn't defend a 300+ total vs a rampaging Kohli who literally destroyed their Gul & Ajmal that day and they still say they got great bowlers thy go great bowlers.

But why should India worry at all if the other side is deluded. It is good for India. This is why India keeps humiliating Pak in every match that matters. World Cup, Asia Cup or WT20. Poor Pak are 0-6 in WCs & 0-3 in WT20s. In fact with all the bowling that Pak have, India can do it better cos when Pak restricted India to 125, Kapil Dev and his bowlers bowled Pak for a paltry 87 on the flattest of Sharjah wickets. Dhoni and his men did the same in Delhi too when Pak couldn't even chase 167.

And yet Pak fans say they got Great bowling and a queue of fast bowlers. LOL LOL. Even the lone WC they won in 1992 came courtesy rain when Pak were bowled out for 72 by Eng and the match was rained out. Tch Tch.

POSTED BY
farhan_313
on | January 27, 2013, 16:36 GMT

we were worried about our middle order but now Misbah has also scored some runs and sarfaraz has also taken place in team with gud batting also. and when 3 to 4 batsman score fifties and one of them got hundred it means 350 to 400 runs and these runs are defendable at south africa pitches.

Younis Khan never scores big in domestic games or side matches but he always scores in big matches and specially in 4th innings his record is amazing.

some brothers have said that this wicket is the flatest wicket of South Africa, thats the only reason Invitation XI are able to make 250, other wise there score might not be more than 150 to 175.

POSTED BY
golgo_85
on | January 27, 2013, 16:35 GMT

Hmmm, I really hope this doesn't turn out to be Younis Khan's last ever outing. I want him to do well enough to play till Pakistan's next Australia tour. He was treated unfairly during that period NZ,Aus then Eng when he was in good form. Such a great fighter with integrity, needs some big scores this SA tour. Hoping for the best.

POSTED BY
david44
on | January 27, 2013, 16:15 GMT

@fijicricket your comment is hillarious look at the overall win/loss ratio in all 3 formats of cricket pakistan is far ahead then india a country with 1.5 bill population and still stuck at pakistan is laughable BTW you are right wining is all that's matter.
@harmony111 your batting god had 5 chances in his backyard and still could not score a century and kholi got owned by junaid khan again on the flattest tracks known by everybody, afridi's leg break is probably faster then any of your fast bowler

POSTED BY
zalmaypk
on | January 27, 2013, 15:35 GMT

very poor batting by middle order,i think taufeeq umar should be played and azhar ali/asad must be dropped.and irafn will also be dropped some other fit bowler should have given a chance in the first test .

POSTED BY
mhk21
on | January 27, 2013, 15:23 GMT

@spiritwithin

that's because you people state your batting lineup as the best in the world .....having your so called legends in the team ...each having scored more than 7000 runs ....but once on abroad pitches they behave as if this is their first international match

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | January 27, 2013, 15:15 GMT

@mazii->These fans wont stop coming after our Pacers..125kph..Cant stop laughing..Hey i remember once afridi bowled at 134 kph..wohooo...He should some lesson to Indian pacers how to bowl fast :)

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | January 27, 2013, 15:12 GMT

@spiritwithin->Wahab,Tanvir,Samir are trash..Look who is talking..Fan of a country who cannot produce a decent Pacer..All India came up with B.Kumar who got ecposed just after 5 matches..Dinda who every batsman in the world love to hit..50+ Avg..What's next..I would say bring back some old decent Pacer back in the team..Ohh wait i forgot.There never was any decent Pacer lol.. ok borrow it from some other team :P

POSTED BY
mazii
on | January 27, 2013, 14:51 GMT

Indian bowlers average speed is 125 km/h. So they call these bowlers as fast bowlers. Just very funny.

POSTED BY
farhan_313
on | January 27, 2013, 14:39 GMT

in cricket every thing is possible and specially when pakistan is playing, i dont say pakistan is favourite because they usually surpersized the opponents like they have done to England when they were no 1 test team and then india on their home soil. Although favourites are South Africans but Pakistan will surely tell the world why they are called unpredictable. and i am sure about one more thing that is, the final score will never be 3-0.

POSTED BY
spiritwithin
on | January 27, 2013, 14:34 GMT

@Solid_Snake..we dont need pace bowlers like Sami who may bowl very fast but still averages 50+ in tests LOL,so called Wahab Riaz,Tanvir.Sami r nothing but trash bowlers and we already saw that,to say that they r not getting any chance bcoz pak has better pace bowlers in the team shows the overall pace bowling standard in pak team at present

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | January 27, 2013, 14:07 GMT

@Harmony111->Junaid is not like Wasim Akram.But he surely is miles ahead of every Indian Pacer..Pick Kapil Dev or your Below Club level less Pacer & more Spinner B.Kumar Bowler..& you are talking about Wahab,Tanvir,Sami etc..Lol they are not getting chance because these current bowlers are better than them.Now imagine the Queue of Pacers here.& lol have you forgotten what Wahab did to your so called best batting line up aka flat track bullies?Were the conditions favourable for him at that time..No i dont think so.He simply demolished the batting line up.Your Sachin master blaster got 5 lives still he could not manage to get to his 100..Hahaha how funny is that..Ok go on & Produce any bowler with a Pace of Sami?Tell me have you any bowler like him?Now..All India got is worthless Pacers having a Pace like Spinners..Tch Tch

POSTED BY
spiritwithin
on | January 27, 2013, 13:45 GMT

@wakaPAK...''we appreciate when you win.. we appreciate your good players''....is it so??i see a very different scenario in the Ind-Eng series match article where pak fans r not letting any opportunity go by to trash team indian..yes india was blanked 3-0 in 1999 in aus but u sounded like its only india who's losing abroad which is not true,for ur info both india and pak has a win loss record of 5-13 away from home since 2006,so i dont understand when pak mocks indian team for playing badly away from home,my last comment was to stress the point that when u try to portray india as a team which is very bad and always loses 'away' then its no different to any other subcontinent teams...

POSTED BY
SSS86
on | January 27, 2013, 13:39 GMT

A Pakistan side with the necessary confidence and talent. Hoping for a confident showing out there.

POSTED BY
Green_Team
on | January 27, 2013, 13:31 GMT

@PAK FANS : Please comment on RSA/PAK Series on this page . You can comment on INDIA on others posts bt please dont do it here :)

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | January 27, 2013, 13:31 GMT

Now that their GREAT Junaid Khan is slowly getting exposed as another typically over-hyped over-rated bowler like Sami, Rana Naveed, Wahab, Sohail Tanvir etc the Pak fans now are asking the question why are Ind fans after Juanid Khan and why can't they leave the poor soul alone?

We would have left him on his own had the Pak fan snot claimed tha Junaid Khan was the next Wasim or that he was a GREAT bowler already or that he was already amongst the best bowers in the world. Ind fans did say that while Junaid was an impressive bowler they also asked the Pak ppl to wait for a while before using any adjectives for Junaid. Now when Pak ppl find that Junaid can only take wickets in helpful conditions even against ordinary batsmen and that too of tail-enders then they vent out their frustration on the Ind fans who were simple being honest. And the lesser we talk of their next GREAT Mohd Irfan the better it would be.

@spiritwithin so you mean to say you were not whitewashed in australia in 1999?? or is it just Pakistan failures you only see in the whole world.. the difference my friend is that we dont daydream and you do.. we dont let the jealousy cloud our judgement... we appreciate when you win.. we appreciate your good players.. and you wont stop at an opportuinty to let out your true emotions..

POSTED BY
spiritwithin
on | January 27, 2013, 13:11 GMT

@mazii ..'''Give respect and have respect'''..these r very big words,i saw u constantly criticizing indian team during the whole Ind-Eng series and u were also not missing any chances to demonize our team,so u first need to apply it to yourself first,now if indian fans r coming here in SA-Pak article to trash pak its bcoz u and many other fans did the same elsewhere,u get what u sow

POSTED BY
avas
on | January 27, 2013, 12:59 GMT

That's the first real challenge after 3-0 whitewash against England. I think Pakistan team has improved after that tour. I am sure we are going to see some good cricket

POSTED BY
Green_Team
on | January 27, 2013, 12:58 GMT

This series is going to be more interesting,1st tym Em seeing people debating on practise match. Instead of fighting,We should look on our mistakes and try to remove them . I Can't wait much for Test Series . . . A team playing Good Cricket Will Gonna Win the Series :)

POSTED BY
mazii
on | January 27, 2013, 12:55 GMT

Harmony111... The people like you resents whenever Pakistani fan poke his nose in some India concerned BLOG, and now you are poking your nose here and giving derogatory remarks against Pakistan. If you can't help from giving these kind of comments against Pakistan then don't expect any one else giving some respect to Indian team. Mean while England thrashed India the last ODI and B.kumar gave forty runs with no wicket in wicket column. Pakistani bowlers humiliated so called world's best batting line up, I think that was enough to resent you. Go and rectify Indian team problems that haunts your team for a while now. Give respect and have respect. Mean while Pakistan are now 130-0 in its second innings and India lost one more in home. Lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | January 27, 2013, 12:55 GMT

@Harmony111 ->Why dont you leave Junaid aside..When he dont take wickets,you say he is pathetic.When he takes wickets,you say that the batsmen were the tail.Say if he had taken the wickets of top order,you would have said that it's just B team of SA..What do want to prove?He is miles ahead of any Indian Bowler currently playing.He is not like B.Kumar who isa fast bowler but got a pace as if he is a spinner lol...He should start spin bowling :)

POSTED BY
Porky_PigTheToon
on | January 27, 2013, 12:45 GMT

Wow ! Great knocks by Hafeez, Jamshed and Sarfaraz. Hats Off ! But rest of them showed they don't even deserve to be in county-teams.

POSTED BY
mhk21
on | January 27, 2013, 12:42 GMT

i think pak has answered all the critics here saying this pitch was not getting flat ..... probably the first day was a bit on the seaming side ......but the pitch is now just plain flat since day 2 ...though pak bowlers superbly managed to dismiss them in less than 250 ....

POSTED BY
basitpaki
on | January 27, 2013, 12:37 GMT

look at the score board ticking ................. then talk abt the pakistan batting line up ..............i think this is the most complete and confident side ever for a tour to south africa ,no differences in the team , every one knows their respective roles...........playing together since last one and half year

POSTED BY
kami_alvi
on | January 27, 2013, 12:26 GMT

@cricinfo Please send your photographers to SA as there is no coverage of the match or even practice sessions yet!

POSTED BY
Fijicricket
on | January 27, 2013, 12:15 GMT

@Solid snake and AK47PK ( names that suit ) you seem more interested in INDIA cricket team than your own team. The comments here is PAK/SAfrica and nothing to do with India. India beat Pakistan where it matters- IN THE WORLD CUP! That too with a whitewash margin of 7-0. Pakistan dont stand a chance against SA

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | January 27, 2013, 12:09 GMT

Lol, even in a practice match the Pak fans are not short of excuses. 1st they said they couldn't score more runs cos the wicket was assisting swing and seam. Really? Pak lost the1st wicket in 29th over - surely no swing or seam shud happen at that time but right after that they collapsed even against the SA Grade C bowlers when the conditions were bets for batting - shows how ordinary Pak batsmen are LOL.

And when SA batted, the excuse was that this is a flat pitch - lol, why did Pak not score more runs then? And 2ndly, even if the pitch was flat why should taking wickets be a problem for these GREAT Pak bowlers? Given that these are unfancied SA batsmen, the failure of GREAT Pak bowlers is even more stark.

Or is it that the GREAT Pak bowlers too depend on fav conditions to take wickets? Even against ordinary batsmen? GREAT Pak bowlers Ha Ha Ha.

Look at Junaid, 3 wickets out of which 2 were tailenders - and he was being hailed as World's Best/GREAT.

SA will atomize Pak in Tests 3-0

POSTED BY
Mubarak.Zeb
on | January 27, 2013, 12:02 GMT

Good to see, Pakistani bowlers have now proved what they promised. I am also impressed with the opening partnerships of Hafeez and Jamshed. Can't wait to watch the first Test on 1st of Feb. I hope, Pakistan players will shut the mouth of the blamers. :)!!

POSTED BY
spiritwithin
on | January 27, 2013, 11:52 GMT

@wakaPAK,u seems to have fond memories of india getting 4-0 4-0 in aus and eng but forget to mention 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 in aus for four consecutive series since 1999,u also seems to forget the 0-3 and 1-3 in england in ur last two tour to England,yes 3-0 or 4-0 does'nt happen much but 3-0 scorecard seems very frequent for pak,may i say that pak was just lucky enough to play 5 tests in a series in aus or eng otherwise it wud have been 5-0 everytime

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | January 27, 2013, 11:08 GMT

People love to talk about Pak bowlers.
Lets look at the so called rising star B.Kumar who got exposed just after 5 matches lol...Look how pathetic he looks in the England Series..
Look at his pace..135 kph with new ball in the first spell.After that his pace comes down to 125 kph.Even our Afridi a spinner can bowl upto 135 kph.What a fast bowler B.Kumar is.Good for first spell only.After that all hell breaks loose for the poor young guy...

POSTED BY
on | January 27, 2013, 9:51 GMT

Gambhir 34 in 3 innings against pak in odis
Sehwag 35 in 2 innings, dropped from 3rd
Ur so called great Kohli 13 in 3 innings, blown away by so called an average bowler (by indians) :D
Yuvraj 34 in 3 innings
Only dhoni played well, he proved he is an excellent flat track bully lol..
no offence but wake up indians, if you really toyed with our attack then where's the result. that shining trophy of the indo-pak odi series is somewhere in Gadaffi Stadium Lahore.. I can also say that Saeed Anwar toyed with indian attack and made 194, Ijaz Ahmad toyed and hit 11 sixes in an innings and many more. Stop commenting India India here as it's a post of SA vs PAK so take your comments to IND vs England posts. You're loosing every series and still mentioning ''toyed'' hilarious. Catch up with Pakistan, we are still ahead by a long distance in ODIs by 71 to 49..Comment 3-0 3-0 go SAF go, but it won't change the thrashing you got recently in different parts of the world.. Comment now if you can :P

POSTED BY
AK47_pk
on | January 27, 2013, 9:14 GMT

This 2nd string sa batting line up is better than india, s national batsmen. Just look at score board lol

POSTED BY
wakaPAK
on | January 27, 2013, 8:26 GMT

Indians always seem to talk in terms of 3-0, 5-0 whitewashes in test cricket. Guys come on, it does not happen too often in Test series, unless ofcourse you are India. The reason you talk so is because you were whitewashed twice.. that too in 4 match series, so now you have the whitwash syndrome. England came, you guys started screaming 'revenge' and 'white washes' and even 'blue washes' :p but they floored you once again. You know what, we should be talking about white washing because we whitewashed THE BEST TEAM... but look at us we are humble and we are nice to people.. learn something from the best ;) .... Ok if you have watched this match live than you should comment about it and base your opinion but we dont know how the fours came; was it bad bowling, luck or poor field setup and how many chances did the batsmen get and the condition on the pitch but seems like you are desperate.. You know what is a "Blue wash".. the blue wash happened in Australia and England...4-0 :D

POSTED BY
I.Aziz
on | January 27, 2013, 8:05 GMT

SA invite eleven has 5 batters with 39+ average in SA first class cricket and 2 bowlers with bowling average of 20 and 22 and only Parnell is the on with 35+ bowling average. So if some of us are saying that invite eleven dose not have teeth are being more than unfair to the talent of SA invite eleven players. Any board will invite good future prospects to play against a visiting international side. Considering that this is first outing for the Pakistan team on this tour, against some more than just good SA players, it is a good show by them. You don't weigh a team by performance in warm up matches if it was so then England first three games (including 1st test which i think was also a warm up game) on India's last tour should mean that Pakistan is wining this tour 2-1. Lol's to all and sundry who are wishing loss of series to Pakistan guys you are in for a huge surprise :P :)

POSTED BY
Cricket_Man
on | January 27, 2013, 7:31 GMT

Misbah needs to learn that if conditions aren't bowler friendly then maintaining pressure on opposition by not allowing them to score can earn wickets too. I think Misbah got carried away by thinking his bowlers would do the job easily and thus adopting aggressive field setups. The pitch provided isn't supportive for bowlers so he should have applied pressure by blocking runs. Junaid Khan is young and may have become a little over confident by using different methods to take wickets which may have resulted in him losing his line and length. My advice to Junaid is that stick to the basics first, get used to the conditions then try to experiment a bit.

POSTED BY
Solid_Snake
on | January 27, 2013, 6:27 GMT

@SwamiCricketanand ->Both lefties are suffering from the same fever that the Great batting line up team India suffered in recently..8-0 trashing.Then England thrashed in tests again.Then Pakistan thrashed that batting line up..Now Australia is coming so get ready for another beating :P
PS->Hey listen...IPL is calling :P

POSTED BY
gsingh7
on | January 27, 2013, 5:42 GMT

if pak struggle against this sa 11 , then imagine what amla and smith will do to them and steyn might retire after this tour after breaking all bowling records, come on sa win 3-0

POSTED BY
davidatlas999
on | January 27, 2013, 5:31 GMT

A team B team C team dosent matter the things is our boys getting some good time there.they will convert it to test hope.and for those who think our bowling is not that good okay we got your point move on.we dont some selfish great all we need a good team player who jell with a team and play some good cricket for us.we are fans of pakistan cricket we love our guys stay away from us.

POSTED BY
love_our_cricket
on | January 27, 2013, 5:20 GMT

but speaking on the matter in hand. this is just a practice match.. meaning its for practice .. (for some who dosnt understand the concept )... time for experimenting with batting bowling, not just in selection of players. but selection in game plays. Even even pakistani losses it . doesnt say anything . its not even a proper match! remember in 92 before the cup . pak lost all its tour matches. but still went on win the cup ? remember (Pakistanis will hate me for this) pak beating india in pre t20 WC matches recently but went on lose to the same team poorly when mattered. Its just for the touring team to get some practice. get used to the conditions. the real stuff begins when the 2 teams play each other. Thats a competition

POSTED BY
love_our_cricket
on | January 27, 2013, 5:15 GMT

loving the comments by "other" people here. Good to c that indians are now looking deeply even into the practice matches Pakistan play. Wow i think Pakistanis really hurt them bad. Also some proteas claiming that SAF will destroy Pakistan etc etc.. I am a pakistani. and on some level i agree with them. but remember SAF still hasnt toured Asian teams since they got no1 status. That will be a real test for them,same as pitches in SAF are for the asians. No one claimed Junaid Khan is the best in the world ATM he is a good bowler.. for me its steyn or anderson . But still andi and styen have bad days with low wickets and huge eco rates. so everyone can have an off today, no issues, Juniad is still better than indian top order. I never saw an indian bowler regarded as the best in the world at any time !

POSTED BY
CricketBirbal
on | January 27, 2013, 4:11 GMT

Hey LillianThompson, What happened to the 2 world's best left arm fast bowlers on day 2. They were supposed to run through the SA IX like a hot knife thru butter? Looks like Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Star have a lot to learn about left arm stuff from these 2.

POSTED BY
dmqi
on | January 27, 2013, 3:30 GMT

Pak should have got 2 practice match. Remember India went to Australia and played few matches before the tests and still was beaten badly. Visiting teams should get at least 2 matches before the tests, may be two 3 day matches.

POSTED BY
Zahidsaltin
on | January 27, 2013, 1:18 GMT

Pakistan should play HARIS SOHAIL instead of Asad Shafiq. Asad might have scored some runs on flate Dubai wickets but he won't succeed in SA.

POSTED BY
RaadQ
on | January 27, 2013, 1:18 GMT

Pakistan haven't played a test match since July (in flat SL pitches), and people are already jumping to conclusions. The purpose of this match isn't to test Pak, but to provide them with practice/condition adjustment. I believe they should have been given two tour matches, since they haven't played test matches in so long. SA have played against NZ, Aus, Eng since August! SA is leading in all frontiers (home conditions, recent matches, best bowling, batting and fielding), so Pak has to compensate by using the ODI momentum from India and their trump cards (Ajmal, Irfan). Even a fight from Pak will gain respect from me, remember, they haven't played in even semi-seam conditions since early 2011!!! (WI in May, NZ in Jan)

POSTED BY
crashed
on | January 26, 2013, 22:15 GMT

well apart from Parnell and v Jaarsveld there is not much into the SA Invitation team that is recognised international players. Must say the South Africans Invitation team is doing good with the experience available in the team. Good luck to both test teams the test should be a good one lets play and comment in good spirits :) May the best team win - up Proteas ;)

POSTED BY
haq33
on | January 26, 2013, 21:23 GMT

Wow harmony11 I am amazed that a cricket expert like you doesn't know that there is early swing and seam even on the deadest of tracks, I.e. the first dozen overs is when the only assistance for bowlers is present on such India-esque tracks. What does the upcoming test series have to do with India's recent odi disaster against Pakistan anyway? And how was Dhoni "toying" with Pakistan? Is that what it means to lose 2-1 at home? India was toying with Pakistan??

POSTED BY
Surajdon9
on | January 26, 2013, 21:01 GMT

@Harmony111 Ha ha ha I think u had no clue about this pitch,their is initial swing and lateral movement during 25-30 Over on Day 1 and after that Pitch became flat n now more flatter..Dnt worry about our bowlers , just remember your so called great batsmen during ODI series ha ha ha what a shame on u ....I will bet u.Pak will show great fight rather than surrender of your great Team India against England and Australia...

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | January 26, 2013, 20:44 GMT

@Surajdon9: Did you say dead flat track? Really? If that is so then why Pak couldn't score more runs batting 1st?

It is to be noticed that the so called World's Best Bowler / Great Bowler Mr. Junaid Khan had exceptional figures of 1/64 of 14 overs i.e RR of more than 4.5 True signs of a great bowler indeed. Wow, the SA must be quaking in their shows to see Junaid Khan spitting fire like this. Mind blowing bowling by Great Junaid Khan.

Even the others did not anything special and yet Pak fans call their bowling as a GREAT bowling line up. Lol, we saw how Yuvraj destroyed them all in the 2nd T20 and how Dhoni toyed with them even after a horrific start by India. And every Pak fan still has nightmares of the way Kohli ripped the seams apart of Pak's bowling in the Asia Cup.

But still, you got to say, Pak indeed has a great bowling line up. Junaid has 1/64 & Irfan has 1/41. Great bowling definitely.

POSTED BY
farhan4050
on | January 26, 2013, 20:34 GMT

Look guys, Day2 was much much easier to bat. It turned into a flat wicket. Taking 7 wickets in two sessions on a flat track is no mean feat. That's the reason we saw the likes of Gul and Sarfraz scoring, and even Junaid too. Surely, if it could have been a green typical SA'n pitch, we could knock them under 150 :)

POSTED BY
Surajdon9
on | January 26, 2013, 20:28 GMT

@uzairamir Dnt wry mate real test yet to begain.Junaid and tower irfan will rock but irfan should be handle Much carefully by team management and Misibah. He will provide great assist on not only Pacy Bouncy after all kind of Pitches....

POSTED BY
uzairamir
on | January 26, 2013, 20:10 GMT

i expected more from junaid and irfan and less from gul but it came out the opposite

POSTED BY
QingdaoXI
on | January 26, 2013, 20:07 GMT

Well bowl boys, especially Harmer, dont worry guys, there heads will be knocked off when they will come to Jo'Burg. By the way this may be Proteas C Team.

POSTED BY
Surajdon9
on | January 26, 2013, 19:57 GMT

@ LahoriLion009 Practically You can't expect anything more than 7 Top Order wicket within 2 session on this dead flat track bully.I hope we can wrap up tail with in 15-20 minutes n bat whole 3rd day and 1st session of 4th day.Our spinner will have enough time of 2 session to take 10 wickets on day 4 go pak go go

POSTED BY
Surajdon9
on | January 26, 2013, 19:36 GMT

Thats why I'm praising Our bowling attack to get out 7 wicket within 2 session is massive on a this flat track but initally for 20-25 Overs on day 1 their is plenty of swings and lateral movement but now its dead pitch n our brilliant bowlers remove all top order cheaply that massive huge positive...

POSTED BY
LahoriLion009
on | January 26, 2013, 19:35 GMT

Although a descent performance by pakistan with the ball and bat but i was expecting more from Our bowlers.........

Good Luck for REAL TEST...

POSTED BY
Surajdon9
on | January 26, 2013, 19:33 GMT

what a bowling attackPak had i agree that is african B Team but they had 43 overall batting average and 23 bowling Average and Mind it this batting average off Pacy Bouncy Tough Green Track not like indian bully track yes???To get 7 wicket on Flat surface within two session is massive..

POSTED BY
UMAR77
on | January 26, 2013, 19:22 GMT

Gud innings by Sarfraz, it will increase his confidence.... Agreed with Surajdon9.. Pak has to concentrate little bit more in batting and once SA will be under pressure they will be down. I Like NZ strategy against them by playing gud batsman at lower order like Franklin, Macculum (both are used to come on top orders many occasion) and support of Mils were excellent. Pak has to think on same lines SA always bad in finishing the game off. Asad Shafique, Sarfraz Ahmed and Gull will play vital role in batting along minor support from Junaid and Ajmal. Whatmove have to practice Junaid and Irfan in batting especially how to play with Sarfraz and Shafique and score precious runs on last numbers.
Wish you best of Luck team Pakistan

POSTED BY
kashijee40
on | January 26, 2013, 19:21 GMT

a lot of ppl here are under estimating Pakistan line up but not to forget this batting line up will surprise you for sure and also PAkistan will perform 200 % more than the kiwis as they are far better team than the kiwis. On the other hand i thinks the strength of SA batting will be tested in the first test when they will face the Paki Bowlers. Over all Both team has alot on the stake in this series

POSTED BY
farhan4050
on | January 26, 2013, 19:08 GMT

I was keen to see Haris play for Younis in this match, as Younis has already experienced the conditions. I may be wrong but Ehsan aadil could be replaced by Irfan. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

POSTED BY
shahzadparacha
on | January 26, 2013, 18:40 GMT

Good fight back by the lower order batting. Bowling is always good.

The main concern going into Wanderers remain Pakistan's brittle batting. Their Average Innings Total in 9 test matches in South Africa is 198.

They need more than 300 runs per Innings to defeat South Africa in the coming series.

POSTED BY
oayaz01
on | January 26, 2013, 18:31 GMT

A tour match has lil meaning before the actual game but good to spend some time in the middle and perform well before the real game, ofcourse the SAF test team will be alot more tougher than this side so Pak really needs to lift their performance to have any chance of pushing the home side.

Kamran Akmal scored a century in a tour game in Aus before test series and then failed miserable with the bat so I won't take much of Sarfraz performance unless he can repeat in the test series.

POSTED BY
davidatlas999
on | January 26, 2013, 18:24 GMT

a very good day for pak team.they need this kind of days in upcoming test against SA .hope they will get them.as for as pakistan bowling they are good enoug to get 20wkt in a test.hope we will see a very good test series for this we need our batting come strong though.

POSTED BY
smalishah84
on | January 26, 2013, 18:18 GMT

The result so far seems encouraging but I am not sure how the batsmen will play on the more quick and bouncy surfaces coming up. Also it seems Saeed Ajmal is not quite as effective on these pitches so the seamers will have to really step up. Can't wait for the series to begin

POSTED BY
nyazdanie
on | January 26, 2013, 18:16 GMT

Pakistan batting and bowling would improve and get better.

POSTED BY
Surajdon9
on | January 26, 2013, 18:00 GMT

Come On Pakistan...We need to choked those Chokers!!!!!!Just concentrate bit On middle order batting then it will be great n great Performance.

No featured comments at the moment.

POSTED BY
Surajdon9
on | January 26, 2013, 18:00 GMT

Come On Pakistan...We need to choked those Chokers!!!!!!Just concentrate bit On middle order batting then it will be great n great Performance.

POSTED BY
nyazdanie
on | January 26, 2013, 18:16 GMT

Pakistan batting and bowling would improve and get better.

POSTED BY
smalishah84
on | January 26, 2013, 18:18 GMT

The result so far seems encouraging but I am not sure how the batsmen will play on the more quick and bouncy surfaces coming up. Also it seems Saeed Ajmal is not quite as effective on these pitches so the seamers will have to really step up. Can't wait for the series to begin

POSTED BY
davidatlas999
on | January 26, 2013, 18:24 GMT

a very good day for pak team.they need this kind of days in upcoming test against SA .hope they will get them.as for as pakistan bowling they are good enoug to get 20wkt in a test.hope we will see a very good test series for this we need our batting come strong though.

POSTED BY
oayaz01
on | January 26, 2013, 18:31 GMT

A tour match has lil meaning before the actual game but good to spend some time in the middle and perform well before the real game, ofcourse the SAF test team will be alot more tougher than this side so Pak really needs to lift their performance to have any chance of pushing the home side.

Kamran Akmal scored a century in a tour game in Aus before test series and then failed miserable with the bat so I won't take much of Sarfraz performance unless he can repeat in the test series.

POSTED BY
shahzadparacha
on | January 26, 2013, 18:40 GMT

Good fight back by the lower order batting. Bowling is always good.

The main concern going into Wanderers remain Pakistan's brittle batting. Their Average Innings Total in 9 test matches in South Africa is 198.

They need more than 300 runs per Innings to defeat South Africa in the coming series.

POSTED BY
farhan4050
on | January 26, 2013, 19:08 GMT

I was keen to see Haris play for Younis in this match, as Younis has already experienced the conditions. I may be wrong but Ehsan aadil could be replaced by Irfan. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

POSTED BY
kashijee40
on | January 26, 2013, 19:21 GMT

a lot of ppl here are under estimating Pakistan line up but not to forget this batting line up will surprise you for sure and also PAkistan will perform 200 % more than the kiwis as they are far better team than the kiwis. On the other hand i thinks the strength of SA batting will be tested in the first test when they will face the Paki Bowlers. Over all Both team has alot on the stake in this series

POSTED BY
UMAR77
on | January 26, 2013, 19:22 GMT

Gud innings by Sarfraz, it will increase his confidence.... Agreed with Surajdon9.. Pak has to concentrate little bit more in batting and once SA will be under pressure they will be down. I Like NZ strategy against them by playing gud batsman at lower order like Franklin, Macculum (both are used to come on top orders many occasion) and support of Mils were excellent. Pak has to think on same lines SA always bad in finishing the game off. Asad Shafique, Sarfraz Ahmed and Gull will play vital role in batting along minor support from Junaid and Ajmal. Whatmove have to practice Junaid and Irfan in batting especially how to play with Sarfraz and Shafique and score precious runs on last numbers.
Wish you best of Luck team Pakistan

POSTED BY
Surajdon9
on | January 26, 2013, 19:33 GMT

what a bowling attackPak had i agree that is african B Team but they had 43 overall batting average and 23 bowling Average and Mind it this batting average off Pacy Bouncy Tough Green Track not like indian bully track yes???To get 7 wicket on Flat surface within two session is massive..